This is my Gift,, My Gift to the world...

Today's Masala, or,,  Pea Soup For the Soul

OK then, without further ado. Here we go.  I'm reaping the rewards of this effort as I type this, and I decided it's just too good to keep to myself...

You will need:

The veg, and the substance:
50g Butter
Extra vegetable oil for fortifying spices
1 and a half Tbsp vinegar
50ml milk
Raw garlic, about 4 or 5 cloves, depends on the size
Raw Ginger, about 2 times the size of your thumb, this is very important, you can skimp and use powder, but it wont be quite the same
1 Large onion
2 Small potatoes
2 Carrots
1 apple
1 cup of Split Peas

Whole spices:
Half a teaspoon of fennel seed
Half a teaspoon of caraway seed
Half a teaspoon of fenugreek
4 or so cloves

Grounds:
1 teaspoon freshly ground coriander seeds
Half a teaspoon of Packo Masala (the five roses of curry powder)
Half a teaspoon of Rajah Mild and Spicy

Method:
OK, one thing I learned by watching Jamie Oliver and cooking shows where all the ingredients are always magically pre chopped, diced, peeled or whatever, is that it pays to do you'r preparation. Much better than bouncing from the stove to the cutting board and burning your spices.

Put the milk in a cup, toss in the vinegar, (I'll explain later). Chop chop, the carrots and the  potatoes in to small cubes. You can have them big and chunky but it takes longer to cook. OK, dice your garlic, ginger and onions separately, or use a food processor, (not mush, but fine). A big, broad vegetable knife is the easiest to use fo this kind of thing. Good, now you're ready for business.

You want a saucepan, heavy and solid is good. Get it nice and hot and throw in the butter, with a bit of veg oil to keep it from wasting the butter. Now throw in all the dry whole spices, swirl it around. Patience is a virtue at this point. You have to keep it moving, not scorching, but sizzling, about 2 minutes is good. Now, the ginger goes, do the same for about another 2 minutes, you'll notice a change in texture. Then comes the garlic, only about half a minute, because it's sensitive, you want to preserve as much of the volatiles in it as possible. Now if at any point during this process what you have in your pan looks dry, add more oil. It should never get drier than a wet kind of a paste. There are 2 good reasons for this. First, you don't want to burn the spices, if their essential oils escape, you lose. Second, the extra oil captures the essential oils that would otherwise be escaping (evaporating). Got it? Good!

Now do the ground spices, they contain thickener, so remember the rule, add more butter or oil if you have to. Don't believe what the media tells you, oil is good for you. Olive oil works great, if that would make you feel more comfortable. It's very important to keep this all moving, a wooden spatula is the best. Keep this going for a minute, then toss in the onion, and still keep it moving until you notice a change in the texture of the onion.

Now, add all the remaining vegetables, (and the apple) and just lightly fry them, you don't have to be thorough, just let them taste the heat and the oil and the spices. Add about 100 ml water, mix and cover, now turn up the heat to HIGH. Wash the peas while the masala starts to simmer, then add them. Now here's where we diverge from traditional Indian cooking, or atleast the recipe's on the backs of boxes of curry powder. Peas drink alot of water. The ones I used today said 2 and a half cups water for 1 cup of peas. I'd say you need atleast that much, Infact I use quite a bit more. Anyway, this cooks on a high flame, so there needs to be enough water for it not to burn. You'll probably find it boiling down before the peas get soft enough, then you just top it up again. Add a bit of salt now, about a quarter of a teaspoon should do it.

OK, put the heat up High, and take a rest. Just check and stir every 15 minutes or so. When the peas are soft, (usually about an hour) take the milk with the vinegar in it, toss it in, and boil for another 2 minutes. The milk will have gone sour, thats the idea. If this idea bothers you, just use some yoghurt, but still add a little vinegar or fresh lemon juice, 2 minutes before serving. This is very important.

Tired? It'll be worth it. Serve with rice, naan, roti, chapati, for now you'll have to figure those out for yourself, I'm going to sleep.

- Enjoy!